There are currently some services available to motorists that can assist motorists in the event of a collision or similar event. For example, General Motors offers the On-Star™ service that can connect a vehicle operator to the On-Star™ service in the event of an air bag deployment or other vehicle indication of a collision or accident. These services are typically subscription services for which the vehicle operator pays a monthly fee, and they are limited to a particular vehicle. Obviously, then, people in vehicles that do not include the communication equipment to support these services are unable to utilize those services in the event of a collision. Furthermore, in the event of an incident, a driver or vehicle passenger may desire to have ready access to other services that are not available through these subscriptions. Examples of other services can include a towing service, medical services, and so on.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for a system that assists a vehicle operator more comprehensively in the event of a collision incident.
Those skilled in the field of the present disclosure will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. The details of well-known elements, structure, or processes that would be necessary to practice the embodiments, and that would be well known to those of skill in the art, are not necessarily shown and should be assumed to be present unless otherwise indicated.